And There There Were None by Agatha Christie (1939)
'Ten little soldier boys went out to dine;
One choked his little self and then there were Nine...
One choked his little self and then there were Nine...
One little soldier boy left all alone;
He went and hanged himself and then there were None.'
He went and hanged himself and then there were None.'
An old nursery rhyme forms the backdrop to Christie’s murder mystery, And Then There Were None.
Ten strangers, each with a secret in their past, receive invitations of various sorts to an isolated mansion on Soldier Island. Arrangements had been made by a person going by the name of ‘U. N. Owen,’ the new owner of the island, for the individuals to be picked up at a certain point and then transported via boat to the island.
The guests realise too late that there is no way off the island until the boat returns, if in fact it ever will, and one by one the invited guests are killed in mysterious ways. Those remaining try to figure out who the killer might be and they each view the others as their enemies.
Agatha Christie has been a mixed bag for me. I’ve loved some of her novels: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, The Man in the Brown Suit, and The Secret Adversary were great reads but although the plot in the book I’ve just finished was clever and interesting, the characters were just awful. There was only one of the ‘Ten’ that I thought had any redeeming qualities; the others were plain old nasty and selfish. It was difficult to feel any sympathy for the cast of characters in this book. Give me Dorothy Sayers, Josephine Tey or even Margery Allingham instead of Agatha Christie anytime...well, at least until I read another of her books that changes my mind again.
This book is on my list for the 'Official 2018 TBR Pile Challenge' and it's my choice of a Crime Classic for Back to the Classics 2018
Comments
I have never read Christie. My wife is a big fan of hers. I have heard others comment that some of the other classic mystery writers were better because of the characters. I need to devote some reading time and try a couple of novels including Christie as welll as some of the others.
I love Christie, but you are correct, characterization isn't her strong suit. In fact, if you read a lot of her books, you will note certain character "prototypes" that she uses over and over. I think her real genius is in her plotting: to wit: of all her books and short stories that I have read, she only re-purposes a plot once or twice.
I love her books and find them easy and comfortable reads for when I am stressed and unhappy in particular. And they are short! I love the Peter Wimsey books too, but I can't read one of Sayer's titles as quickly.
I'm so impressed with the way Christie can spin a mysterious tale, even about murder, without making it unnecessarily gory. Right now we're listening to Pale Horse.
Re Josephine Tey - I'd recommend them all!(she only wrote 8 crime novels) If you like history 'The Daughter of Time' is an unusual detective story that examines Richard III's bad press over the years and whether his reputation is justified.
D of Time, The Franchise Affair, Brat Farrar, & The Singing Sands are I think, her better books.